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Hifikepunye Pohamba
Hifikepunye Ahmet Volhan William Pohamba (under no circumstance to be confused with Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba) was the president of the Democratic People's Republic of Namibia, played by christos200 in Multipolarity III, from the start of the game to 2510. As leader of the Namibian Democratic Front, he was effectively dictator of the country, and had already constructed a pervasive cult of personality by 2500. Although introduced as a communist and avowedly atheistic, Pohamba converted to Catholicism in 2502 and instituted a state religion, likely as a ploy to curry favour with the Papal States. Pohamba's belligerent foreign policy sparked a flashpoint in 2500 when Namibia attempted to bully New Zealand out of Australia, leading to denouncement and threats of retaliatory action by Australia, Hawai'i, and the Imperium of Man. Namibia's participation in the First Romnesian War received international backlash and provoked a counter-campaign by Romnesia and its allies. Pohamba's decision to prosecute total war against the Blood Empire resulted in Namibia's near-collapse and wholesale destruction of occupied territory that some observers argue constituted a genocide. Having lost public confidence, the government reinstated democratic elections at a limited scale in 2508; national elections were conducted two years later, in which Pohamba was ousted in favour of opposition leader Lucas Mulhara. His subsequent political career is unknown. Presidency Pohamba was the leader of the Communist Party, and as such, the Namibian Democratic Front, a coalition of socialist and nationalist groups. He benefitted from a pervasive personality cult through which he exercised totalitarian control of the state, and claimed the title of "Father of the Nation", among others. When Namibia consolidated its client states into a formal military alliance, Pohamba assumed permanent executive authority over the organization. Australian crisis Pohamba adhered to an aggressive foreign policy, attempting to procure Australia as a client state in 2500. New Zealand charged Namibia was unduly interfering within its sphere of interest. Namibia responded with a naval blockade, prompting Australia, Hawai'i and Mann to pledge military support to New Zealand, leading Namibia to rescind the blockade the next year over fear of war. Papal appeasement Despite its atheistic ideology, Namibia pursued an appeasement policy toward the Holy See, including twice nominating Pius XXV as General Secretary of the Union of Nations, leading to the practical severing of relations with the Manx until the death of Emperor Gilmore in 2502. That same year, Pohamba converted to Roman Catholicism to curry diplomatic favour, prompting the government to launch a ludicrous historical revisionism campaign. In 2502, Romnesia published a leaked Vatican memo calling for concerted sedition against Romney's client network. As if to prove the claim, Namibia immediately threatened to embargo Romnesia unless it ended influence in China, which Namibia sought to client for itself. Romnesian Wars At year's end, Namibia launched an amphibious invasion of Romnesia. Piggybacking off an international campaign to break Romney's blockade of the Ivory Coast, the expedition bypassed the Romnesian fleet and secured a beachhead, leading to international denunciation and several embargoes over what was considered illegal aggression and threats of using nuclear weapons. While Romney reached a general peace in 2504, Namibia used captured territory as a springboard for colonization of the region; incensed, Romnesia broke the treaty at year's end and, in conjunction with its allies and client states, launched a reprisal campaign into occupied territory, while Netherscotland, the Blood Empire and Russian mercenaries invaded Namibia proper. Pohamba again threatened to deploy nukes, declaring a total war and announcing Namibia would reject all peace offers from Romnesia. While Romnesia abruptly collapsed in 2505, Namibia continued to prosecute war against its successor state, the National Socialist Regime of Africa. After the newly-founded HITSGDP launched mass embargoes against the war's main participants, Namibia eventually settled with the NSRA in 2506. War with the Blood Empire Pohamba's leadership proved most controversial regarding Namibia's invasion by the Blood Empire. Despite not participating in the First Romnesian War, as a member of the Iron Alliance it claimed Namibia's invasion of Romnesia constituted a declaration of war against itself, and the lack of an explicit Namibian–Vampiric peace meant its activity in the Second War was merely a continuation. Other countries rejected the claim as opportunism, and Namibia rebuffed all attempts to sue for peace. Pohamba's commitment to total war proved disastrous, however, as fighting turned savage and a coup d'état in Mozambique opened a second front. By 2507, Namibia had lost roughly half of its home territory. Pohamba insisted on fighting to the death and vowed to punish Mozambique; when Namibia launched a counteroffensive later that year, the Vampires conducted a scorched-earth retreat that included the deliberate murder of forty thousand civilians. The war only ended when in 2508 the Empire abruptly collapsed and the successor government surrendered. Reinstatement of elections and final years as President Pohamba's leadership during the war proved so unpopular that in 2507 libertarian groups began open protests for his resignation. The government agreed to hold elections in regions "not under threat" in 2508. The Communist Party, the only surviving member of the original NDF, won a narrow plurality of 33% against the lead opposition Federalist Party's 30%, subsequently forming a coalition government with the Liberal and Socialist parties. The new administration rapidly abandoned socialist principles, selling off state companies and slashing public wages to bankroll a marketing campaign directed at foreign investment. Pressured by the opposition, postwar nationwide elections were scheduled for 2510. In a bid to secure a majority, the coalition merged into the Namibian National Front, led by Pohamba. Federalist leader Lucas Mulhara retaliated by merging with two new parties as the ironically-named Namibian Democratic Front, which won a narrow 51% majority, establishing a new government. Pohamba was only mentioned once afterward, and his fate remains unknown. Legacy Under Pohamba, Namibia became an international pariah. His aggressive, overreaching foreign policy, incessant refusal to negotiate peace without heavy external pressure, and mid-game threats of nuclear escalation, led many countries to regard Namibia as a failed state and threat to global security. During the Romnesian Wars it was suspected of committing war crimes, although formal charges were never brought forward. While Namibia achieved mixed success in its war with Romnesia, Pohamba's refusal to settle with the Vampires prolonged the war and nearly destroyed the country. His personality cult could not withstand the national destabilization, and following his electoral defeat in 2510 he was largely forgotten as a political figure. Category:Heads of state in MP3 Category:Antagonists